Approach the game with no preset agendas and you'll probably come away surprised at your overall efforts. - Phil Jackson While Phil was talking about basketball and not D&D I think the quote applies. When we sit down to write, prepare for, or play a ttrpg with an agenda in mind, we often don't get …
Category: musings
Effort and Outcome
The results of your work don't always meet your expectations. And yet, you should keep working. Keep studying. Keep writing. Keep drawing. Do your thing. The gap will always be there. Sometimes you get close but you can't always control the outcome. What you can control, is the effort.
RPG Texts: Entertainment vs Utility
One approach to publishing RPG products is write a text that will entertain the game master reading the rule book or adventure. There is some sense in that. The designer needs to create an emotional response from the game master reading the work. Without the game master getting excited to use the material, it will …
Be Like Licorice
"We're like licorice. Not everybody likes licorice, but the people who like licorice really like licorice." Jerry Garcia I enjoy dark humor. It's like food. Not everybody gets it. I enjoy doom metal, Texas style BBQ, bourbon, and Ethiopian coffee. I like dark, disturbing, morally ambiguous fantasy. I really like these things. I have a …
It’s The Power Curve
I've not played 5th edition. I own the DMG, PHB, Monster Manual, DM screen and the starter set. When the game came out, I fully intended to run a campaign and I still might. I am hesitant to do so. Just as one can be introduced to a strange food combination like lutefisk ice cream …
Question Your Assumptions
As a game master, I think it is a valuable exercise to take some time to think about your assumptions. Consider a concept or principle that you believe to be an unassailable truth when it comes to game mastering. Write it down. Now assault it. Interrogate yourself on the veracity of this principle. Don't be …
Heroic Adventure Gaming
Many commentators over the years have asserted that the "murderhobo" was generally what old school D&D characters amounted to "back in the day." That may have been true in the hobby broadly but I don't think it was true at the very beginning of the hobby and for some of those early players/DM's, that hasn't …
Grumpy Wizard 
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